Game 6 of the World Series is tonight and to commemorate the occasion, we’re doing a running diary for the evening. What that will entail is basically a smorgasbord of AA’s best features – quotes from Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (ala the Pammies), your tweets on the broadcast (ala Real Tweets from Real People), and some interspersed commentary in between. Just refresh the page throughout the game for a continual dialogue and leave a comment below or tweet us your thoughts/quotes. Enjoy the game… and try to enjoy the announcing!

“And now Michael Young takes a ball…. in for a strike.” – Joe Buck (via MagnaCarterLive)

merfster1 It’s not amazing that leadoff hitters that walk tend to score, McCarver. Does he know anything about baseball? @awfulannouncing

Bottom 1st

“The Cardinals are hoping to have the intention to get Pujols up there without intentionally walking.” – Tim McCarver (via AA)

Lance Berkman homers to make it 2-1 Cards in the bottom of the first. Joe Buck actually seemed excited for the occasion (for his relative standards)… but I’m sure a large portion of the audience may interpret it as Cardinals homerism…

“The best way to eliminate gray is to keep hitting them like Berkman just hit them … or hit it.” – Tim McCarver (via TravHaney)

That’s a little harsh isn’t it? Ear ripping territory is usually only reserved for Craig James.

Bottom 2nd

There’s something so beautiful about Tim McCarver saying “JAI-MAY” Garcia. In other news, Kinsler doubles into left center to tie the game at 2-2 in the second. Already Boggs is warming up in the bullpen for the Cards. Get Ken Rosenthal on the other end of that bullpen phone!!

“you’ve heard that expression 2nd time thru the lineup; this is the 2nd time the Rangers have faced Jaime Garcia.” – Tim McCarver (via JimMcKaysaidso)

At least Joe threw in a little excitement in throwing to commercial…

Top 3rd

Tim actually makes a good point about Carpenter pitching Game 7 of the World Series reflecting on Ken Rosenthal’s short report. See, we’re not negative all the time!

I’m already taking oxygen like a fat man interception. This could be a long night.

An uneventful third inning (as we’re still tied at 2) that’s spotlighted by a long and confusing conversation about drifting into foul territory. I’m mentally drifting away like Rece Davis must do when he sits between Mark May and Lou Holtz…

Yes!! Fernando “Tossed” Salas warming up in the bullpen! Somewhere, Chris Berman is making loud grunting noises at his television.

Pujols at bat with 2 outs and its remarkable how quiet the talk has been regarding tonight’s game perhaps being the last for Albert Pujols in a Cardinals uniform.

Joe Buck uses the trivia question as a chance to farcically joke at Tim McCarver “leaving play by play men in his wake.” It’s been a long 14 years, America…

Two long flyballs punctuate the 3rd as Lewis has settled down after that home run to Berkman. Thankfully, we’re now on pace only for about a four hour game… (takes several shots of Red Bull).

Top 4th

Fantastic blooper in the outfield as Holliday and Furcal do their best Major League impression. That was a pretty soft “collision” though. I’ve seen more intensity in a Peyton Manning slide.

“Cruising around 3rd is Cruz” – Joe Buck (via AA) thankfully not resisting the urge to throw in a Nantzian pun…

Seriously though, Mike Napoli’s MVP performance in the World Series may be the most unlikely sports event of the year. Jermon Bushrod may be on his way to Super Bowl MVP honors…

And now with one out, Napoli is down injured on a hideously poor throw from Salas. Incredibly, that awful throw and a leaping Furcal causes Napoli to twist his ankle on the base in one of the most awkward looking plays in World Series history. Only thing missing was someone throwing a shattered bat…

Elvis Andrus destroyed on a takeout slide from Matt Holliday, (who was about the distance from Arlington to St. Louis away from 2nd base). The throw careens off the fence in foul ground and comes back into play to prevent a run being scored.

Cards tie it in the third on a ground ball to third. 3-3 in the bottom of the 4th with Nick Punto at the dish. Tim starts to make a point and ends up with his best analysis of the series…

The inning ends on a Nick Punto strikeout as he thinks about slamming his bat into the turf. Cards fans are hoping he does and jams his wrist to take himself out of the game. 3-3 after 4!

Before the Top of the 5th, let’s take a stroll through the Twitterverse to check fans’ opinion of tonight’s broadcast…

flipflopflying Joe Buck’s tone of voice is exactly the tone of voice you’d have if you had to listen to Joe Buck talking forever.

TrashTalkwithGP Joe Buck does a really good job of combining “smug prick” with “souless robot” to keep the hate trickling in from all sides.

CallMeBil For Tim McCarver, ending a sentence in a preposition is something up with which he will not put.

jonathanvilla10 I’d rather bang my head on a table 100 times than listen to Tim McCarver announce this game

Top 5th

sjwest86@awfulannouncing “These have been anything but routine.”-Buck, right before David Freese drops a popup. He has the gift!

The Cardinals defense is trying to top themselves in stupid errors to start an inning. It leads to a run being scored on a double by Michael Young, 4-3 Rangers. The bad news for St. Louis is that they’re winning. For the next inning, let’s hope this tomfoolery involves a ball nailing some sort of pigeon.

“Every game in this World Series has been memorable” – Joe Buck said with the energy of someone under anesthesia.

From Ryan Yoder: this game is just waiting for one of these teams to have about a 5 run inning…

Bases loaded now with 2 outs as Lewis comes up to bat for himself. Interesting decision with the AL team in the NL park. Could bring up a pinch-hitter and go into the bullpen. Lewis hasn’t exactly been Jack Morris so far. Aaaannddd… Lewis strikes out in about 7 seconds. Poor decision from Ron Washington, he’s gotta pinch hit in that spot and try to break the game open if he can. 4-3 Texas halfway through this one.

whygavs That … was bafflingly dumb. Says a guy that watched Clint Hurdle all year.

By the way, we should give David Freese a break. It’s far from the worst thing anyone with that name has done…

Gorgeous pick-up, spin, and throw by Furcal to nab the second out of the inning. Amazing how he’s been able to stick around and appear with seemingly a new team every single postseason. He’s like a slightly less cooler Kenny Lofton.

And now Michael Young botches a potential double play ball with another error. Cards now have runners on 1st and 2nd in the inning with one out. Five errors now in tonight’s game. What a showcase for the game.

Seriously, there have been more errors in this game than Tim McCarver at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

And now the bases are loaded without the ball leaving the infield.

“The Rangers switch pitchers, Jenni-O invites you to switch to Turkey!” – Joe Buck with perhapst the most annoying product placement I’ve ever seen in a sporting contest. I don’t even know what Jenni-O is, all I know is I want it banished to Greenland with Skip Bayless.

And Ogando walks in the tying run, 4-4. This may be the worst defensive/pitched inning in the history of baseball. Is it too early for the Rangers to consider bringing Jose Canseco to the mound or stick him in the outfield?

Whoa!! And it’s another MVP play from Napoli as he guns out Holliday at 3rd base!!! What a play! And Beltre does well to block the path back to the bag.

And WTF is Holliday thinking?!?!

1Craig23 This is the ugliest #WorldSeries game I can ever remember watching: 5 Errors and Joe Buck/Tim McCarver? What else can go wrong?

In summary this half inning (so far), the Rangers f*%#ed it up to tie the game. Holliday f*%#ed it up for the Cardinals to not take the lead. And the Rangers are currently trying to f*%# it up to notches unknown to give St. Louis the lead.

And finally, Creepier Adam Morrison gets the final out of the 6th as we’re ready for the 4th quarter of the NFL on Fox!! Is it so hard for one of the biggest media companies in the world to have different theme songs for their sports?

Top 7th

Home run! Beltre! 5-4 Rangers on a powerful drive into right center field going the opposite way.

“No bigger swing in his career and he’s put Texas on top by a run.” – Joe Buck with actually a pretty good job on the call. Maybe Tim Burke’s excellent counterpoint article from Deadspin today is getting to me more than I thought.

And now Cruz makes it back to back home runs!! 6-4 Rangers as Cruz hits his 8TH HOME RUN of the postseason into what used to be Big Mac Land! He’s got to win the Conn Smythe, right?

Lost in the shuffle tonight is Texas setting some sort of record for failed sacrifice bunt attempts in one game.

BecuzofSociety I like it when TimMcCarver wakes up every few minutes and talks #WorldSeries

Tony La Russa is to double switches as to Antoine Walker was to three point attempts.

Adam Morrison jogs around to score the seventh Texas run on a Kinsler hit up the middle. This game’s getting away from the Cardinals bullpen this inning. I wonder if Tony La Russa will blame the Buch Stadium telegraph this time. Maybe he should try a Carrier Rally Squirrel.

Nice of the Fox mic to pick up La Russa throwing out a “God damn!”

St. Louis finally gets out of the 7th inning as Fox even uses their NFL theme for a tribute to Ed Goren. Weird.

LouUhler Joe Buck talking about the Brooklyn Dodgers “long run of success”. Now he is just making stuff up. @awfulannouncing

Pujols is 0-4 in what may be his last game as a Cardinal. Stunned this hasn’t been a bigger storyline. St. Louis goes 1-2-3 once again and we’re officially getting the gingerale or whatever the Rangers are drinking in the clubhouse ready.

Top 8th

Another quick 1-2-3 inning reserved for Joe & Tim waxing poetically about Albert Pujols’ time in St. Louis. Here’s what our own Matt Clapp had to say…

sharapovasthigh Ah, this is going to turn into a Pujols memorial. Dear Joe Buck: THE RANGERS ARE ABOUT TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES! @awfulannouncing

Bottom 8th

Home run! Allen Craig hits a solo shot to draw the Cardinals to within two. 7-5 Texas. The way Feliz throws it anywhere in the stadium, this game is long from over. In other news, I think Joe Buck is trying to find a sense of excitement for this possible Cards comeback. Of course, he could have just been reading advertisements.

ChrisFischer07 I know Joe Buck grew up around the Cardinals and as unbiased as he’s trying to be, it’s been evident.

EvanJamesRoskos have only listened to about 7 minutes of the world series and already I’m tired of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

I’ve only at 2575 words, it’s not all that bad. Ok, maybe I should’ve thought about an in-depth evening with Joe and Tim a little more…

And now Andrus gives away another out by going to first instead of second. Go-ahead run now at the plate with the tying run on base. This game has more than a few twists and turns left. Just as long as Robert de Niro doesn’t come out of the stands, I’ll be ok to continue this live blog.

(Wait, you mean nobody out there has seen The Fan?!? John Kruk gets stabbed in the leg, how did this not win an Oscar!!!)

And Adams gets out of a bases loaded situation after Furcal hits a “real screamer” back to the pitcher. Onto the ninth. Texas 7, St. Louis 5.

DiceTea10 Is Tim McCarver drunk? Just said Cardinals hadn’t hit ball out of infield for 18 batters. Was he asleep during the homerun 3 batters earlier

If you have to ask…

My God! Nolan Ryan may have actually just been semi-forcing a smile! His stone-dead face is what I picture when I think of Joe Buck announcing any big-time sporting event.

Top of the 9th goes by without too much (unless you’re wondering where in the world Tim McCarver went during that half inning. Was he in the can? Asleep? Recording another classical songs of yesteryear album??) Theriot, Pujols, and Berkman up in the Bottom of the 9th. Texas on the verge of a title.

Bottom 9th

Every Indians and Cubs fan just threw something at their television with the requisite “longest drought without a WS graphic.”

The Riot strikes out as Tim chips in…

“Now a home run can’t tie it.”

Thanks Tim. He can put one into the gap to bring the tying run to the plate though.

And now Feliz can’t throw a strike. Go ahead run at the plate with Allen Craig… and it’s back to the Nolan Ryan face!!

Again, if the Cardinals take every pitch, I’m not sure Feliz can throw enough strikes to end this game. The guy has electric stuff, but he is all over the place.

Buck and McCarver saying much less in this bottom of the ninth inning. Always a great call by broadcasters to tone it down in this spot and leave the moment for itself.

Strikeout! Feliz gets Craig looking on a pitch right down broadway. One out left in Game 6 and Freese up to bat. Fox is desperately looking for a marching band to properly capture the moment.

AND FREESE TIES THE GAME WITH A TRIPLE AND ST. LOUIS DOWN TO THEIR LAST STRIKE!!! 7-7!!!

And Cruz makes the catch this time after bouncing off the wall in the last at bat. Neftali Feliz blows the save and we’re going to extra innings.

This game hasn’t been the best played for most of the night, but it sure has been one of the most compelling, exciting games in recent World Series memory. We’re ready to keep going for extra innings!! And so is Nolan Ryan!!!

mspici the defense employed by the rangers worked perfectly. the did not allow a double. no one said anything about triples @awfulannouncing

Top 10th

Andrus gets a base hit up the middle with one out in the tenth and Josh Hamilton (2-5 tonight) up to the dish. I just have the sense that this may be his moment. Been pretty quiet this postseason.

AND HAMILTON DOES IT! HOME RUN!! 9-7 TEXAS!! MY God, I actually just called that! There is a God after all! #TEBOWING!!!

So the Rangers again go into the bottom half of the inning looking to close out on their first title.

And Tony La Russa has two left handed hitters to face LHP Darren Oliver and then the pitcher’s spot with his bench emptied. #overmanaging

For the record, Buck did pretty well (for his standards) with that Hamilton home run call. Tim McCarver however has been on the side of a milk carton since about the middle of the 6th. Is Terry Francona in the stadium somewhere or at least in the midwestern US?

My God, and now there are two runners on base to start the inning. This is the most unreal, improbable, roller coaster game in baseball history. Just let Lohse hit a 3 run home run and end this madness before my keyboard explodes.

Lohse gets the sac bunt down and now the tying runs are in scoring position.

Theriot the batter with Feldman on to pitch and one out. Fox is going to go into uber camera switch mode at this point in the game.

After a Theriot foul ball, here’s Fox’s camera work

Washington, Feldman, old couple, young woman, young boy, rally squirrel, Theriot. All in 5 seconds.

Theriot grounds out to bring home a run. Now one runner on second. 9-8. 2 outs. Albert Pujols to bat… and he’s being intentionally walked. Yes, you put the winning run on base, but this is a no-brainer decision. You have to pitch to Berkman.

“Why go into a doubles defense when a single will tie it?” – McCarver actually brings up a great point. Inviting the tying run on any hit to the outfield. Now a 1-2 count on Berkman. Down to the last strike… again.

*JAW. DROPS.* 9-9 as Berkman singles into shallow center field. Damn.

Craig grounds out and somehow we’re going to the 11th. Joe Buck says “What a night” like he just got done playing Bingo at the rec hall with senior citizens. Then again, he does share a booth with Timmy…

This is the damndest baseball game I’ve ever seen.

keithfarner McCarver: In a battle of the beards, the gray beard won. @awfulannouncing

And now Jake Westbrook takes the mound. Thank God, this World Series game was incomplete without a former Indians starting pitcher involved at some point. Now we’re ready to call this an all-time classic.

Napoli singles with one out in the 11th. It’s going to take a Bartmanian act for St. Louis to actually lose this game. Texas could score nine runs this inning and the Cardinals will still tie it. And we’ll just keep going on and on and on and on until Tony La Russa finally puts Pujols on the mound and calls it a night.

German grounds out to end the inning. Buck sounds as excited as I’ve ever heard him in a broadcast. He’s up to Jim Nantz at Augusta right now. An inside the park home run to end it and he may crack Verne Lundquist territory.

Maybe this classic game is winning baseball fans over to Joe & Tim…

danpericone Joe Buck ” Rangers lose their most effective reliever that had left”. You mean the guy that just blew the lead w/ only 1 strike to go?

Seriously, let’s just have Nolan Ryan pitch one at bat to Mark McGwire. Winner takes all.

HOME RUN! FREEEESE! 10-9 Cardinals win as Joe Buck channels his dad…

“We will see you tomorrow night.”

Final Thoughts

Joe’s going to take a lot of criticism from some people for “ripping off” his dad and his famous call of Kirby Puckett’s Game 6 home run in 1991, but it’s cool for him to be able to pay tribute to Jack Buck with that call. As much (or little) as you think of Joe Buck, that actually was a pretty good job tonight in calling one of the most memorable games in World Series history. One thing Joe Buck won’t do is dominate a moment and there are times his tendency to drastically understate the moment comes in handy. He was fantastic tonight setting the scene and letting the crowd and the many incredible, mind-blowing moments speak for themselves – the walk off home run especially. Tim McCarver’s “how did this happen?” was also somehow appropriate.

That’s a game and a moment baseball fans are going to remember for a long time. One of the best ever. St. Louis comes back from 2 runs down in the 9th and 10th inning when they were down to their final strike in both innings. Then, they win it on a walk off home run in the 11th. I’ve always wondered what it would’ve been like to watch those famous Game 6s like Reds/Red Sox and Mets/Sox and now I know just a bit. What a classic.

Thanks for joining us for this live blog/running diary that lasted over 5 hours and 4,000 words. I think I’m going to eat a rally squirrel. Peace.